Artificial dataset generation to enhance the design exploration of residential buildings through data-informed energy load forecasting models

This study aims to assist urban planners and building designers in taking informed decisions based on energy performance – simulating a real-world urban development scenario – using limited computational resources. In particular, this paper proposes a new approach that integrates existing studies on building loads forecasting by using a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) generated dataset based on significant geometrical parameters. This overcomes the needs for large datasets – often difficult to access.The results demonstrate that the data-driven approaches have addressed the buildings' load predictions with a reasonable accuracy while significantly reducing the calculation time required

Looking at words and points with attention: a benchmark for text-to-shape coherence

While text-conditional 3D object generation and manipulation have seen rapid progress, the evaluation of coherence between generated 3D shapes and input textual descriptions lacks a clear benchmark. The reason is twofold: a) the low quality of the textual descriptions in the only publicly available dataset of text-shape pairs; b) the limited effectiveness of the metrics used to quantitatively assess such coherence. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive solution that addresses both weaknesses. Firstly, we employ large language models to automatically refine textual descriptions associated with shapes. Secondly, we propose a quantitative metric to assess text-to-shape coherence, through cross-attention mechanisms. To validate our approach, we conduct a user study and compare quantitatively our metric with existing ones. The refined dataset, the new metric and a set of text-shape pairs validated by the user study comprise a novel, fine-grained benchmark that we publicly release to foster research on text-to-shape coherence of text-conditioned 3D generative models. Benchmark available at https://cvlab-unibo.github.io/CrossCoherence-Web/.Comment: ICCV 2023 Workshop "AI for 3D Content Creation", Project page: https://cvlab-unibo.github.io/CrossCoherence-Web/, 26 page

Integrated Workflow Development for Data-Driven Neighborhood-Scale Building Performance Simulation

As urbanization intensifies, cities are key contributors to energy consumption and carbon emissions, accounting for a significant portion of global energy use and CO2 emissions. This paper introduces a systematic approach to support the development of urban projects with minimized operational carbon footprints through the integration of data-driven building performance simulation (BPS) tools in early-stage design. Emphasizing the necessity for a collaborative effort among designers, policymakers, and other stakeholders, we discuss the evolution of BPS toward incorporating data-driven tools for energy need reduction and informed decision-making. Despite the proliferation of modeling methods and data-related challenges, we present a theoretical workflow, supported by interactions with design firms in the US and European Union (EU) through interviews. This structured approach, demonstrating adaptability and scalability across urban contexts, foregrounds the potential for future data-driven integration in design practices. Grounded in theoretical concepts and preliminary real-world insights, our work emphasizes the transformation of standard activities toward data-driven processes, showcasing the crucial role of practical experience in advancing sustainable, low-carbon urban development

N-acetyl-cysteine, a drug that enhances the endogenous activation of group-II metabotropic glutamate receptors, inhibits nociceptive transmission in humans.

Emerging research seeking novel analgesic drugs focuses on agents targeting group-II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGlu2 and mGlu3 receptors). N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) enhances the endogenous activation of mGlu2/3 receptors by activating the glial glutamate:cystine membrane exchanger. Here, we examined whether NAC inhibits nociceptive responses in humans and animals. We tested the effect of oral NAC (1.2 g) on thermal-pain thresholds and laser-evoked potentials in 10 healthy volunteers, according to a crossover, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, and the effect of NAC (100 mg/kg, i.p.) on the tail-flick response evoked by radiant heat stimulation in mice.In healthy subjects, NAC treatment left thermal-pain thresholds unchanged, but significantly reduced pain ratings to laser stimuli and amplitudes of laser-evoked potentials. NAC induced significantly greater changes in these measures than placebo. In the tail-flick test, NAC strongly reduced the nocifensive reflex response to radiant heat. The action of NAC was abolished by the preferential mGlu2/3 receptor antagonist, LY341495 (1 mg/kg, i.p.).Our findings show for the first time that NAC inhibits nociceptive transmission in humans, and does the same in mice by activating mGlu2/3 receptors. These data lay the groundwork for investigating the therapeutic potential of NAC in patients with chronic pain

Radiofrequency Ablation in Vertebral Body Metastasis with and without Percutaneous Cement Augmentation: A Systematic Review Addressing the Need for SPINE Stability Evaluation

Vertebral body metastases (VBM) are one of the most frequent sites of bone metastasis, and their adequate therapeutic management still represents an insidious challenge for both oncologists and surgeons. A possible alternative treatment for VBM is radiofrequency ablation (RFA), a percutaneous technique in which an alternating current is delivered to the tumor lesion producing local heating and consequent necrosis. However, RFA alone could alter the biomechanics and microanatomy of the vertebral body, thus increasing the risk of post-procedure vertebral fractures and spine instability, and indeed the aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of RFA on spine stability. A systematic review according to PRISMA-P guidelines was performed, and 17 papers were selected for the systematic review. The results show how RFA is an effective, safe, and feasible alternative to conventional radiotherapy for the treatment of VBM without indication for surgery, but spine stability is a major issue in this context. Although exerting undeniable benefits on pain control and local tumor recurrence, RFA alone increases the risk of spine instability and consequent vertebral body fractures and collapses. Concomitant safe and feasible therapeutic strategies such as percutaneous vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty have shown synergic positive effects on back pain and improvement in spine stability

The probiotic Bifidobacterium breve B632 inhibited the growth of Enterobacteriaceae within colicky infant microbiota cultures

Infant colic is a common gastrointestinal disorder of newborns, mostly related to imbalances in the composition of gut microbiota and particularly to the presence of gas-producing coliforms and to lower levels of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. Probiotics could help to contain this disturbance, with formulations consisting of Lactobacillus strains being the most utilized. In this work, the probiotic strain Bifidobacterium breve B632 that was specifically selected for its ability to inhibit gas-producing coliforms, was challenged against the Enterobacteriaceae within continuous cultures of microbiota from a 2-month-old colicky infant. As confirmed by RAPD-PCR fingerprinting, B. breve B632 persisted in probiotic-supplemented microbiota cultures, accounting for the 64% of Bifidobacteria at the steady state. The probiotic succeeded in inhibiting coliforms, since FISH and qPCR revealed that the amount of Enterobacteriaceae after 18 h of cultivation was 0.42 and 0.44 magnitude orders lower (P < 0.05) in probiotic-supplemented microbiota cultures than in the control ones. These results support the possibility to move to another level of study, that is, the administration of B. breve B632 to a cohort of colicky newborns, in order to observe the behavior of this strain in vivo and to validate its effect in colic treatment

Predicting value for incomplete recovery in Bell's palsy of facial nerve ultrasound versus nerve conduction study

Objective This longitudinal study aims at assessing the predictive value of facial nerve high-resolution ultrasound (HRUS) for incomplete clinical recovery in patients with Bell’s palsy, the most common facial nerve disease. Methods We prospectively enrolled 34 consecutive patients with Bell’s palsy. All patients underwent neurophysiological testing (including facial nerve conduction study) and HRUS evaluations 10-15 days (T1), one month (T2), and three months (T3) after the onset of Bell’s palsy. Patients who did not experience complete recovery within three months were also evaluated after six months (T4). We have then compared the accuracy of HRUS with that of the facial nerve conduction study in predicting incomplete clinical recovery at three and six months. Results At T1, the facial nerve diameter, as assessed with HRUS, was larger on the affected side than on the normal side, particularly in patients with incomplete recovery at T2, T3 and T4. ROC curve analysis, however, showed that the facial nerve diameter at T1 had a lower predictive value than the facial nerve conduction study for an incomplete clinical recovery at three (T3) and six (T4) months. Still, the facial nerve diameter asymmetry, as assessed with HRUS, had a relatively high negative predictive value (thus indicating a strong association between normal HRUS examination and a good prognosis). Conclusions Although HRUS shows abnormally increased facial nerve diameter in patients in the acute phase of Bell’s palsy, the predictive value of this technique for incomplete clinical recovery at three and six months is lower than that of the nerve conduction study. Significance: Nerve ultrasound has a low predictive value for incomplete clinical recovery in patients with Bell’s Palsy

Violacein, an indole-derived purple-colored natural pigment produced by Janthinobacterium lividum, inhibits the growth of head and neck carcinoma cell lines both in vitro and in vivo

Violacein (VIO; 3-[1,2-dihydro-5-(5-hydroxy-1H-indol-3-yl)-2-oxo-3H-pyrrol-3-ylidene]-1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one), an indole-derived purple-colored pigment, produced by a limited number of Gram-negative bacteria species, including Chromobacterium violaceum and Janthinobacterium lividum, has been demonstrated to have anti-cancer activity, as it interferes with survival transduction signaling pathways in different cancer models. Head and neck carcinoma (HNC) represents the sixth most common and one of the most fatal cancers worldwide. We determined whether VIO was able to inhibit head and neck cancer cell growth both in vitro and in vivo. We provide evidence that VIO treatment of human and mouse head and neck cancer cell lines inhibits cell growth and induces autophagy and apoptosis. In fact, VIO treatment increased PARP-1 cleavage, the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, the inhibition of ERK1 and ERK2 phosphorylation, and the expression of light chain 3-II (LC3-II). Moreover, VIO was able to induce p53 degradation, cytoplasmic nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) accumulation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. VIO induced a significant increase in ROS production. VIO administration was safe in BALB/c mice and reduced the growth of transplanted salivary gland cancer cells (SALTO) in vivo and prolonged median survival. Taken together, our results indicate that the treatment of head and neck cancer cells with VIO can be useful in inhibiting in vivo and in vitro cancer cell growth. VIO may represent a suitable tool for the local treatment of HNC in combination with standard therapies